Track sprinkler



Filed Dec. 15,

Patented Sept. 12, 1%.?3

. nane Application December 15, 1927 Serial No. 240,205

6 Claims.

My invention is in a track sprinkler for sprinkling railroad tracks, andmay be considered an improvement on my Patent No. 1,512,324, datedOctober 21, 192 1, for a Track sprinkler.

The track sprinkler of my patent above mentioned was designed to drawwater from the water tank in the tender of a locomotive, the inlet tothe sprinkling system being at a designated elevation above the bottomof the tank so that there would always be a certain amount of water leftin the tank after sprinkling, suiiicient for the boiler to draw thelocomotive and train to the next water tank. In this patent 1 discloseda valve mounted in the tank and controlled by the fireman from the footplate between the locomotive and the tender.

It has been found that the type of valve control illustrated is notsuiiiciently accurate in giving a small amount or a large amount of wa-2 ter, and varying the amount of water for sprinkling between these twoextremes; and also, as it is controlled by the fireman, the sprinklingis sometimes neglected or inefiiciently operated.

An object of my present invention is to con 2 trol the flow of water bymeans of a valve which itself is actuated or controlled by air pressure,and preferably, to have the control valve for the air system located inthe cab of the locomotive so that it may either be operated by theengineer or by the fireman.

Another object of my invention is in an installation for tracksprinkling to have a Valve which is controlled by air pressure, therebeing two air inlets, one inlet acting on a piston which acts on anotherpiston, the latter piston being connected directly to a valve plug. Thetwo pistoins have independent air supplies, and one may be actuated togive a partial opening and the other a complete opening of the valve.

My invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription and drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of part of a locomotive and tender showingthe installation of the track sprinkler, and the water valve with theair control pipes leading to the locomotive cab with air control valvestherein.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail, being the longitudinal section on the line3-3 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the air controlled water valve.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the locomo- (Cl. l99-31) tivetender is designated by the numeral 1, part of the cab by the numeral 2,there being a foot plate 3 connecting the locomotive and the tender.Spray pipes s are supported from brackets 5 on the bottom of the tender.These spray pipes have apertures 6 for projecting jets of waterforwardly and downwardly. A baffle screen 7 is shown as formed of anarcuate plate connected at its rear edge 8 to the spray or jet pipes,and extending forwardly, having on each vertical walls 9.

In the action of the sprinkler on a dusty roadbed the sprays of Water attimes force a cloud of dust into the air, which is caught by the screen7, this dust being forced down again through the spray and deposited onthe roadbed. This prevents mud accumulating on the rear part of thetender and the forward part of the train, and also acts to conserve acertain amount of the water by preventing this from blowing away andhaving it driven down on the roadbed.

Secured to the bottom or" the tank there is a water valve designatedgenerally by the numeral 14 and extending upwardly into the tank is thewater inlet pipe 15, this pipe being of such a height that when thewater is drained for sprinkling it leaves a body of water with the waterlevel 16 above the bottom of the tank. This is designed to always leavea reserve suiiicient to provide steam for travel of a locomotive andtrain to a watering station.

The water is discharged through a drop pipe 1'? with a forward extension17 and flows from transverse sprinkling pipes 4 onto the track. Thereare two air control pipes 19 and 20 connected to the valve. These haveflexible connections 21 with couplings 22, and lead to the pipes 23 and2 1 in the cab, which are illustrated as having separate air controlvalves 23' and 24', which may be considered as throttle valves 25, beingarranged to control a ilow of air in both of the pipes.

The water valve 14 is constructed with a valve housing or casing 26.This has a central body 27 with a valve seat 28 located therein. Thepressure side of the valve seat is indicated by the 1 numeral 29 and thedischarge side by the numeral 30. A flange 31 is connected to the casingor housing and is adapted to be bolted to the tank 1. The pipe 15 isthreaded into the upper part of the valve and extends upwardly throughan opening in the tank to the desired elevation. The valve also has acoupling end 32 to which the drop pipe 17 is connected.

On the discharge side of the water valve 14 there is constructed acontrol cylinder 33 preferably formed integral with the casing orhousing. This has an internalannular shoulder 34 and has a cap 35threaded on the outer end of the cylinder. The air pipe 19 leads throughthis cap, and the air pipe 20 leads through an opening 35 on the innerside of the shoulder 34. On the opposite side of the valve housing thereis a guide cap 37 threaded into an opening 38 on the pressure side ofthe valve housing. This cap has a guide socket 39 and a stop set screw39 which may be screwed into the socket to the desired extent forming alimit to the depth of sucli socket.

The water valve plug 40 has a conical surface 41 to bear against thevalve seat 28 and on the discharge side of the valve is provided with astem 42 and with a piston 43 on the stem, the} piston fitting into thecylinder 33, such piston being provided with piston rings 44. On theopposite side of the valve plug there is a guide stem 45 which has itsend fitted in the guide socket 39. A compression coiled spring 46surrounds the guide stem and the structure of the cap forming the guidesocket, bearing against the valve plug and against the base of the cap37; thus the spring tends to seat the valve plug.

An outer piston 47 has a skirt 48 and is provided with piston rings 49.The skirt has a sliding fit inside of the annular shoulder 34 and isadapted to have its inner end 50 abut against the piston 43. The slidingfit of the skirt 48 on the shoulder 34 allows leakage or passage of airfrom one side of the shoulder 34 to the other, in the operation of thepistons as hereunder mentioned.

The manner of operation and functioning of my track sprinkler, havingreference particularly to the valve control, is as follows: Presuming itis desired to only open the valve part Way, then the throttle valves '25are operated so that air is injected through the pipe 19 and acts on theunder piston 47. This piston is then forced inwardly until it contactswith the shoulder 34 which forms a limit. This shoulder is positioned sothat in such action the valve plug 40 is forced inwardly substantiallyone-half of its travel, thus opening the valve to one-half its fullcapacity.

If it is desired to open the valve its full distance on the initialoperation, the throttle 25 is manipulated so that the air enters throughthe pipe 20 behind the inner piston 43, which action forces the innerpiston, and hence the plug 40, inwardly to the full extent of itstraveLgiving what might be termed a wide open valve, and allowing alarge quantity of water to be discharged more rapidly than by the firstarrangement.

It is manifest, therefore, that if to start with a small amount of wateris required, the air can be flowed into the valve to operate the outerpiston 47, which as above mentioned presses against the piston 43 andshoves this in half way, and then if a greater amount of water isrequired, the air may be shut oil from the supply pipe 19 and suppliedthrough the pipe 20, which action forces the inner piston 43 inwardlyits full distance and gives a full supply.

Manifestly, by a reversal of operations, the full supply be first givenby moving the inner piston and then subsequently releasing the airpressure for this piston and operating the air to force the piston 4'7inwardly, giving one half .the travel to the valve, plug. a

The air valves 23 and 24' are of the ordinary type used in air controland when in the off tance. r

. the extent allowed by the stop, and a second air position provide anexhaust-for the system they control. Therefora wlreii these valves arein their off position they vent or exhaust the cylinders fed by thepipes 19 and 20. The water valve 14 has the casing 26 in which operatesthe valve plug 40. The control of this valve is through the medium of aseparate control cylinder 33 which, for sake of convenience, may beformed integral with the valve casing 26. The pistons in this cylinder33 are controlled by the valves 23 and 24' and, hence, give a first andthen a second movement of the plug 40. When the valve connected with thepipe 19 is opened it allows the full air pressure to act on the outerpiston 47 but as this can only move a limited distance the valve is onlyopened part way then through a separate instrumentality; that is,another valve using the pipe 20; the inner piston 43 is acted upon,opening the valve the full dis- Therefore, considering the installationas a whole, the air control throttle valve may be mounted in anysuitable location, such as in the cab of a locomotive, and is thereforereadily H accessible to both the engineer and the fireman, and thedesired graduated control may be had by the operation of the valve,releasing approximately the desired amount of water to dampen orsprinkle the track to a desired extent.

'Various changes may be made in the principles of my invention, as setforth in the description, of my invention without departing from thespirit thereof as set forth in the description, drawing and claims.

I claim:

1. A valve comprising in combination a valve housing having a seat, avalve plug bearing thereagainst, the housing having a cylindricalsection, a first and a second piston slidable therein, the second pistonbeing connected to the plug, a stop means for the motion of the firstpiston, an air supply to operate the first piston, a first pistonactuating the second piston to open the plug to its supply means forthesecond piston, the inde- I20 pendent movement of the second piston beingadapted to open the .plug to its full extent.

2. A valve comprising in combination a valve housing having a seat witha plug bearing thereagainst, the housing having a cylindrical sectionwith a first and second piston therein, an annular shoulder forming astop for the first piston, the first piston bearing against the secondpiston and the second piston being connected to the plug by. a stem, acap back of the second piston, an air supply through said'cap to theback of the first piston, and a second air supply back of the secondpiston between such piston and the annular shoulder.

3. A track sprinkler comprising in combination a water tank, atransverse spray pipe having a series of spray apertures therein, abaffle screen formed of a curved plate connected to the top of the spraypipe and extending forwardly and above such pipe, and side wallsconnecting the ends of the screen to the pipe, the said screen beingadapted to catch dust and mud thrown up by the water spray.

4. In a track sprinkler, in which a locomotive is coupled to a tenderhaving a tank with a water discharge above the bottom of the tank and asprinkler, the combination of a valve between the discharge and thesprinkler, a first remote control fluid operated means controlled in thelocomotive to open the valve a predetermined amount less than the fullopening, and a second fluid operated means controlled in the locomotiveto open the valve the full amount.

5. In a.track sprinkler in which a locomotive is coupled to a tenderhaving a tank with a water discharge above the bottom of the tank and asprinkler, the combination of a valve between the discharge and thesprinkler having a movable plug, a first fluid operated means controlledfrom the locomotive to move said plug a predetermined amount less thanthe full opening of the valve, and a second fluid operated meanscontrolled from the locomotive to move said plug a greater amount togive a full opening to the valve.

6. In a track sprinkler in which a locomotive is coupled to a tenderhaving a water discharge above the bottom of the tank and a sprinkler, avalve between the discharge and the sprinkler, the combination therewithof a slidable valve plug, a first piston slidable in the valve, a fluidoperated means controllable from the locomotive to move the plug apredetermined distance by the movement of the first piston, a secondpiston, a fluid operated means controllable from the locomotive tooperate the second piston, and means to move the plug by the secondpiston to a greater extent than the movement by the first piston.

W. H. WHALEN.

